School Board Wrap-Up

The following is from the Feb. 9 meeting of the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

GATE committee sets goals

Nancy Hubbell, assistant superintendent of instruction services, reported on the Gifted and Talented Education Committee’s focus on the district’s 2009-10 Action Plan Goal, which is to research best practices in GATE education and formulate programmatic improvements to the board.

Areas outlined by the committee are philosophy, identification, grouping, differentiated curriculum and instruction, evaluation of student outcomes, and effectiveness of the program.

Hubbell shared a variety of certification and teacher training options with the board, including UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton programs that offer full teacher certifications.

Top of the World Elementary School Principal Ron LaMotte said a training module on GATE identification would be helpful.

Board of Education President Ketta Brown expressed her appreciation for the committee’s plan, which she said will be beneficial to both the program and students.

Superintendent search contract

The board approved a $21,200 contract with the Cosca Group to conduct a superintendent search, and began the search process in a special public session.

Under the contract, Cosca will interview and screen applicants, conduct a public forum, and provide 12 months of mentoring to the new superintendent if appropriate.